The Town of Hampden Conservation Commission issued Negative Determination No. 3 for work to build an accessory two-car garage and overhang near a riverfront buffer, concluding the project is within the buffer zone but "will not alter an area subject to protection under the act" provided specified conditions are met.

The commission's written determination, dated Oct. 28, 2024, says the work is within the buffer zone but does not require filing a Notice of Intent so long as the applicant follows the listed conditions. Conditions require a 100-foot buffer silt fence with double stakes, straw bales placed behind the work area, and that soil from sonotube (pier footing) placement be kept outside the 200-foot protected area measured from the stream. The determination also records that the commission will retain one signed copy in its files and provide another to the applicant.

Commission members who visited the site told the panel the build area is set back from immediate wetland channels but is surrounded by dense brush that prevented onsite measuring at the time of inspection. Staff discussed placing the temporary erosion controls downhill of the work and using straw bales backed by stake-driven silt fence where the slope is steep. The file notes the applicant plans post-and-beam footings (sonotubes) rather than a full frost-depth poured slab; the soil produced by those excavations must not be placed in the riverfront-protected area.

The commission required that the erosion-control measures be installed before any ground disturbance and that staff be notified 48 hours in advance so the commission can inspect the silt-fence installation. Commissioners recorded the required double-staked straw bales behind the silt fence, contouring to the existing brush line, and the containment or removal of spoil as conditions of the determination. The hearing was closed by unanimous voice vote after commissioners signed two copies of the determination for the record.

The determination text and the signed copies will be retained in the commission file; the order lists the specific erosion-control steps and the restriction on spoil placement as conditions of the Negative Determination.